Union leaders attack identity card proposals

The proposed introduction of identity cards "will be a highly expensive mistake" a group of leading trade union officials said recently.

In an open letter to The Guardian newspaper, the union officials pointed out: "The number of costly government IT failures is too long to list. The money that will be squandered on this scheme would be far better spent on investment in health and education, or solving the pensions crisis."

The group included general secretaries Mark Serwotka (PCS civil servants' union), Jeremy Dear (NUJ journalists) and Bob Crow (RMT rail workers), as well as Keith Sonnet, deputy general secretary of the UNISON public services union, and Barry Camfield, assistant general secretary of the T&G general union.

The letter also expressed concerns over the cards' likely disproportionate impact on black people.

They said: "Our black members have expressed serious concerns that the primary purpose of ID cards will be to single out ethnic minority groups for unfair treatment."

The anti-ID card campaign No2ID has now extended its "Refuse pledge" scheme, launched in July (see July Labour Research, page 4). Over 10,000 have already signed up.

No2ID has launched a second pledge, at www.pledgebank.com/resist. It wants 50,000 people to pledge £20 each to generate a £1,000,000 legal fighting fund to support those who choose to refuse.